Deadly tension on the roads — cars vs. bikes

[phantom power]

Here come those essays...

The problem is that so many new riders create road hazards because they don’t know the rules, police say. Too often, inexperienced riders take traffic signs as suggestions, not commands.

After the Seminole County, Fla., sheriff’s office recently began fielding scores of complaints from drivers that bicyclists were clogging major streets, it sent out deputies with video cameras. The cameras revealed large groups of bike riders illegally disrupting traffic.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25695376/

[maxsolomon]

1. execute these scofflaws!

no one may obstruct or delay an internal combustion engine!

:sarcasm:, 'natch.

[drmeow]

7. As someone who has bicycled to work

and driven a car, I can say that it is not just a matter of obstruction or delay, it is a matter of safety. The other day I was driving down a main commercial street (40 or 45 mph, 2 lanes each way, center turn lane, all businesses and strip malls) and had a green light. As luck would have it, I happened to notice two cyclists coming up the road perpendicular to me (the one that had the red light) and thought to myself, "I'll bet they aren't going to stop at the light" based on my experience with the cyclists in my community. So I slowed down a bit, just in case. Sure enough, the one bicyclist turned right into the lane I was traveling in without even slowing down and looking, let alone stopping for the red light. Had I not been vigilant, he would have been dead (wasn't wearing a helmet, either) - he pulled out about 3 feet into my lane (I was at least 1 car length into the intersection and if I had not been going 10 miles an hour under the speed limit, I would not have been able to avoid hitting him). Not all drivers are as vigilant as I was.

I've also been almost run over by a bicyclist who was not obeying traffic laws when I was walking.

I've seen a bicyclist run through a stop sign right in front of a bus (which had already stopped at the stop sign so fortunately was not going very fast - imagine the injuries to the passengers on that bus if the driver had had to slam on the brakes harder to avoid hitting the cyclist) - at the closest point the cyclist passed within 1 foot of the buses bumper.

[aspergris]

2. bicyclists are legally required

to obey traffic signals. just like cars.

I promote responsible bicycle riding. I also recognize the danger, and a good friend of mine was killed bicycling the roads by a DUI driver.

Cyclists should DEMAND respect. they should also respect the law, because those go hand in hand

[elocs]

3. Bikes and traffic don't mix well. If a bike tangles with a car, the bike always loses.

My city of 50,000 is very bicycle friendly and I can ride nearly anywhere in town without having to ride on a busy street. There are many sidestreets which parallel busy streets. It's stupid to ride in traffic you you don't need to. Also, we may ride on the sidewalks except in a small area of downtown. We also have many bike paths.

Too many people on bikes do not obey the rules of the road and that hurts the reputation of all of us. One that I absolutely hate as a drive is when 2 people on bikes (usually your multi-speed racing bikes with the guys in spandex) ride side by side and take up an entire lane of traffic because they demand their entitlement. Or even a single bicyclist who rides within the lane of traffic. A passenger's side mirror on a truck will end that kind of arrogance. Then there is the total no stop at all for a stop sign or light.

So being both a driver and a bicyclist I can see both sides.

[phantom power]

4. My suspicion is that treating bikes and autos as legally equivalent was a blunder.

Although once upon a time cars drove slower, and there were fewer of them, and they were smaller. So I can imagine how it seemed like a good idea at the time.

I would seriously consider inverting the situation: make bicycles legal pedestrians, not legal vehicles. My chief motivator is that when a bicycle and a pedestrian collide, the consequences are less serious than when a bicycle and auto collide. The total kinetic energy involved is far less.

[dwp6577]

6. I totally agree!!...improve the sidewalks for bikes and foot traffic to share

A white stripe on the road and a "share the road" sign is not going to stop betty from turning me into a hood ornament

[kestrel91316]

42. A bicycle having to share the sidewalk with pedestrians is

incredibly frustrating for the cyclist, dangerous for both, and completely defeats the idea of commuting anywhere on a bike. No thanks.

Get the CARS foo the road, or at least make sure they aren't running us responsible cyclists down.

The drivers here in LA are EXTREMELY nasty to cyclists and will go out of their way to try to hit you. And yes, I do speak from experience.

[drmeow]

8. Just as falling off a bicycle can kill you

so can being hit by a bicycle if you are a pedestrian.

[phantom power]

10. Of course that can happen.

Which collision is more dangerous statistically: A collision between a car and a cyclist, or a collision between a cyclist and a pedestrian?

[drmeow]

12. "make bicycles legal pedestrians, not legal vehicles"

So, in order to make bicyclists safer, you would make pedestrians less safe. As a regular pedestrian, that is not an acceptable solution to me. Creating a middle category would be fine but I've had too many close calls with cyclists when I was walking to feel comfortable with your solution.

[OKIsItJustMe]

13. One of the biggest causes of accidents is speed differences

On a city street, a bicycle may be as fast as a car. On the other hand, on a sidewalk, a bicycle is much faster than a pedestrian.

Bicycles simply do not belong on sidewalks.

[Howzit]

25. On top of that, bikes are silent and will whack pedestrians from behind without warning N/T

[RaleighNCDUer]

36. You want to re-think that?

Pedestrial walking 3mph. Bicycle riding, 10mph. City traffic, 35mph.

Pedestrian = body weight. Bicycle = body weight = 15lbs. Vehicle = 1.5 TONS.

[wtmusic]

39. Absolutely - and the fact that there are no designated lanes

on a sidewalk.

[elocs]

14. Where I live, in relation to a car, bicycles legal pedestrians in areas such as crosswalks.

If I am riding my bike within the 2 white lines of the crosswalk I have the exact same rights as a pedestrian in relation to a car. A bike is expected to obey traffic laws, but so are pedestrians. Here a bicyclist is neither fish nor fowl, orst of a hybrid pedestrian/motorless vehicle. I do occasionally encounter pedestrians on the sidewalk and I simply pass carefully the exact same way I do when I encounter people walking on the bike and hiking paths (I even have a bell on my bike).

What I think is totally stupid where I live is where we have long stretches of sidewalks on a busy street with very little pedestrian traffic and the person on the bike chooses to ride on the street in traffic. I think a lot of the ideas of bike lanes and bike paths are to keep bikes as separate as possible from motor traffic.

[Fovea]

15. The rare missouri intellegent law...

It is illegal to ride a bicycle on a sidewalk in a business area in Missouri.

Why? Because my recumbent has the crank out front like a sawblade, and I have hit 48mph on a downgrade mostly coasting.

If once upon a time cars were safer, and now are not, whose primary responsibility should it be to use the roads safely again?

Hint: The folks who kill 42K people a year in the US.

[AndyTiedye]

16. That Only Works if Bikes Go 3-5 mph and Stop At Every Intersection

[phantom power]

33. That pretty much describes how I bike...

although there are clearly many bikers who go a lot faster. Because they're in really good shape, or in a bigger hurry, or something.

[dwp6577]

5. I ride 3 days a week now (25mi each way) and am mostly on the

sidewalk. I doubt I'm supposed to, but I'm careful to give walkers the right of way. Police don't seem to care yet. The spandex bike crowd tend to turn their noses up...screw'em...I'm not going to get run down by a - stereotype coming - betty in an SUV, with a smoke in one hand a cellphone in one hand, mascara in one hand...uhhh...steering with her knees...she's got to come up onto the sidewalk to get me :)

[drmeow]

9. a warning that a stereotype is coming

does not make it any less offensive. Your remark was completely unnecessary.

[OKIsItJustMe]

11. Lights, lights, lights

I've got nice bright lights on my bike. Even then, some motorists seem to treat me as if I'm invisible. However, too many cyclists ride with no lights at all.

Bicycles do not belong on sidewalks; pure and simple. It's dangerous for cyclists and pedestrians.

Enforced bicycle lanes are best. (Better yet, bicycle lanes which are separated from the main roadway are best.)

Just as sailboats have the right-of-way on the water, human-powered vehicles (and pedestrians) should have the right-of-way on the roads.

...

Bikers said they often struggled to blend safely with traffic. In the same video survey that found dangerous biking, Seminole County deputies also recorded a shocking level of rude and aggressive behavior by drivers.

“It’s not their right to assault a cyclist or to run a cyclist off the road because they get impatient,” sheriff’s Lt. Pete Kelting said.

Regardless, said cyclist Keri Caffrey, “they see a cyclist and they target them, in many cases.”

...

[AndyTiedye]

17. Bike Lanes Are Often Entirely Within the "Door Zone" of the Parked Cars

[bhikkhu]

32. ...which is one place I dread riding, and avoid if at all possible.

The middle of the road is safer, though not so nice for cars that would like to go faster than bicycle-speed.

[depakid]

18. There's been a spate of recent incidents in Portland

spurred on in my opinion by a 18 months of antagonistic coverage and "debate" in the local media.

Two of the latest incidents involved drunks- in one case a guy bashed a car with his bike, and in another... well, watch the cell phone video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfgQeVLrbe0

[phantom power]

19. WTF?

[depakid]

20. Yep. It's gotten pretty bizarre

Traffic run-in leaves Portland cyclist clinging to car hood
Motorist arraigned on charges; uninjured rider recalls ordeal

A week after a (drunken) bicyclist attacked a motorist who chided him for running a light in Southeast Portland, police say the tables were turned when a 21-year-old motorist chased down a cyclist who yelled at him for going too fast.

A nearby resident caught part of the Sunday night confrontation on a cell phone video, a harrowing image of the cyclist hanging onto the hood of the car as it sped north on Southeast 58th Avenue.

The bicyclist, Jason S. Rehnberg, 37, said he jumped onto the car's hood as it accelerated toward him. He first clutched the windshield wipers, then dug his fingers into the narrow crack between the hood and windshield.

"I just held on for dear life," Rehnberg said Monday night. "All I could think was, 'This dude's crazy, and I've got to get off this car.' "

The cyclist ultimately rolled off about five blocks later, and the motorist was arrested at his home.

The video is now evidence in State of Oregon v. James F. Millican II.

Millican, the 21-year-old driver of a Ford Escort, was arraigned in Multnomah County Circuit Court on charges of second-degree kidnapping, driving under the influence of intoxicants, reckless driving and second-degree criminal mischief.

Millican initially faced an attempted second-degree assault charge, but it was replaced with the kidnapping charge because the bicyclist wasn't injured, prosecutor Greg Moawad said.

Rehnberg, a handyman and carpenter, was headed to a job on his customized blue vintage Schwinn about 7 p.m. Sunday. He was riding south on Southeast 58th Avenue, just past Washington Street, and was heading uphill. He had to maneuver around a parked car when a motorist heading north sped by.

"He buzzed by me, and I shouted, 'Slow down, you gashole!' " Rehnberg recalled.

Rehnberg said the motorist slammed on his brakes, leaving skid marks at least 65 feet long. Rehnberg circled back north on Southeast 58th Avenue toward the car. "I wanted to have an interaction with this guy and get him to understand that 'hey, you're going too fast on a residential street.' "

By now, the man had stepped from his car, was yelling at Rehnberg, threatening to hurt him and running after him, police and Rehnberg said.

Rehnberg stayed on his bike and cut down several side streets to try to lose the driver. Thinking he had lost him, Rehnberg turned back south on Southeast 58th Avenue to continue toward his carpentry job.

Rehnberg said he was stopped in the middle of the road to check if he was in the clear when he spotted the car pointed in the opposite direction. The Escort suddenly backed up toward him.

"He hits it in reverse, pretty much in full speed," Rehnberg said.

He jumped off his bike, and Millican ran over the front end, bending the wheel, said Rehnberg, witnesses and an affidavit filed in court.

At least four or five residents in the area noticed the confrontation. The driver stepped out of the car again, Rehnberg said. Somebody shouted to get the car's license plate. Rehnberg and two witnesses stood in front of the car to try to get the plate when the driver got back into the car and accelerated toward them.

The two witnesses jumped out of the way.

"I can't go right or left because there's people in my way," Rehnberg said.

So, he jumped onto the hood of the car. Luckily, he said, he had bike gloves on, so his fingers weren't ripped raw as he grabbed onto the windshield wipers.

More: http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1216094102198390.xml&coll=7&thispage=2
-------------

Worse problem I ever have is with inattentive drivers (typically on cellphones). But these these sorts of deals garner a lot of attention- and people gripe on the Oregonian and Tribune, and in LTTE's and blogs- so it makes it seem like an epidemic, when it's really not.

See: War between bikes and cars? Not in Portland

http://blog.oregonlive.com/breakingnews/2008/07/war_between_bikes_and_cars_not.html

[wtmusic]

41. Whoa - check out this comment on the YT vid:

"Some fucking cock sucker cut me off on his bike and I nearly got in a head on colision to avoid him. I told him the only reason I didnt crush his skull on the pavement was because I didnt want to hurt my Lexus. The holocost was targeting the wrong people- the jews did nothing wrong they should have been targetting those fuckers who ride a bike and think they own the entire fucking road. Guess what you hippie bastards the only reason you dont all die is because we let you live."

[kestrel91316]

43. That seems to be the attitude of drivers toward cyclists here in

my part of Los Angeles.

[bhikkhu]

21. So there is, and I commute by bicycle daily

The first few blocks are downhill and I ride with traffic. There sidewalks are narrow and broken up, and there is no bike path. As I can ride for that stretch at the pace of traffic there has been no problem.

From there I turn onto a bike path bordering an irrigation canal for a mile or so. It is an illegal turn, as there is no crossing marked and a double yellow line in center of the road, but visibility is very good and traffic there is light and slow. The bike path is very nice, except for one point where a four lane road must be crossed. Again there is no crossing marked, and the closest one is a couple of blocks away down a road with no bike lane. I just ride straight across if there is no traffic, or stop and wait until there is no traffic.

From there I turn onto a little side street to avoid a busier parallel street. The little side street is deserted as it has numerous stop and yield signs and all the cars just take the busier one with no stops. I ride down it slow enough to stop or yield for cross traffic, but I don't stop at the stop signs if there are no cars or pedestrians.

From there I end up at the busiest intersection in town, where I cross at the crosswalk with traffic. I have a half mile then on a very busy street with many businesses and many cars entering and leaving the road in a hurry, with a narrow bike lane whose edge is regularly violated by large trucks. So I don't take the bike lane, just I wind through a series of connected parking lots bordering the road, leisurely enough to avoid any moving cars. The final half mile is a quick run down two lightly traveled streets with no stops, riding with the car traffic again.

Going home is the same except instead of leaving the bike lane and going home I have to go downtown. There I ride with traffic as well as I can, depending on how tired I am. It is always busy and there are no bike lanes. If I am too tired or if there is just a short ways to some errand or stop I may ride on the sidewalk. In that case I go very slowly and stop and walk if there is pedestrian traffic I might disturb.

Sorry for the long description, but you can see how difficult it is to bicycle in town. There are many different situations; you can't just jump on a bike and go somewhere without planning a safe route, and figuring how it should be ridden. I am a very safe rider, but I probably break two or three dozen laws every day, mostly because the city I am in is not designed for bicycle traffic and there is very little that drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists can do about it but stay mindful. Bicyclists should certainly be educated about what is expected of them, but part of the problem is structural - our cities have largely not been designed to allow for riding in a predictable manner.

[NNadir]

22. I have had three serious bicycle accidents in my life, one very nearly fatal.

I was in a coma from the first one for 3 days and did more than a week in intensive care and three weeks in the hospital.

This was before the days that people commonly wore helmets, although I don't think a helmet would have done anything for the collapsed lung and stuff like that.

Two of the three accidents were more or less my fault, although road sand for sanding roads in order to make the roads passable for dangerous fossil fuel self propelled vehicles in winter was a contributing factor in the first.

A common bicycle accident involves a bicyclist moving very fast when a dangerous fossil fuee self propelled vehicle over takes it just before making a right turn. Nine times out of ten the driver of the dangerous fossil fuel propelled vehicle will make the right turn in front of the bicyclist.

More than once I have been forced to swerve to the right to avoid such an accident. On one occassion, I actually had to grap the roof of the dangerous fossil fuel propelled vehicle and turn with it.

The fuck!

If one looks like it in risk probabilistic terms though, it is arguable that the health benefits of bicycling far out weigh the risks. The first accident resulted in severe scar tissue around my rib cage and lead to permanent changes in my EKG that do not actually involve my heart but rather the electrical signature of my heart in an EKG. As a result to clear the matter up, I had an angiogram and I was told that my heart was spectacularly healthy. I attribute this to my attempt to revolt against the internal combustion engine that I undertook as a niave young man.

[tinrobot]

23. In Los Angles, it's not only the cars, it's the buses

The streets in LA with bike lanes are also the busiest bus routes. The buses tend to play leapfrog with the bikes. The bus stops in the bike lane to let someone off, the bike passes the bus, thus having to go into the driving lane, the bus starts up and passes the bike, usually a little too close.

I once had a bus almost push me into a row of parked gars. It's an scary feeling to have a 20 ton double long bus going about 30mph a few inches away on one side and a row of parked SUVs few inches away on the other. The bus drivers have no courtesy in this city, which is why I avoid the bike lanes and ride side streets.

[depakid]

27. Our local media reported on one of those incidents, too

Cyclist smashes window of TriMet bus

A cyclist smashed a window of a TriMet bus in Portland today in the latest skirmish between a driver and a bicyclist.

The incident happened on Southeast 39th, where a No. 75 bus was traveling north and stopped at Hawthorne. Peggy LaPoint, a TriMet spokeswoman said the cyclist pulled in front of the bus as if there were a bike box there.

"The operator waved and motioned for the cyclist to move to the side," LaPoint said. The cyclist moved over and when the light changed the bus moved on to the next stop, at Main. At that point the cyclist, who was a male, smashed the window next to the door with his fist, causing it to fracture, she said.

No words were ever exchanged with the cyclist, she said.

Police were called and while the bus was waiting for officers to arrive, the cyclist took off. LaPoint said another cyclist pedaled next to the driver's window and yelled at the driver while the bus was waiting for police.

That cyclist took off as well. No one was arrested and eventually the bus continued on its way.

http://blog.oregonlive.com/breakingnews/2008/07/cyclist_smashes_window_of_trim.html

[bhikkhu]

30. Sounds like the bus was running the cyclist off the road or into parked cars,

for the cyclist to have been in a position to strike the window as the bus probably was moving over to the stop. In Portland there is generally parallel parking also, ending with just enough space for a bus to pull into. Strike a window or get ground to hamburger between a bus and parked cars...I'd have struck the window too.

[depakid]

34. That's my take, as well

A number of the more problematic intersections are getting "bike boxes" -as referenced by the bus driver in his report.





They're designed to keep cars and buses from merging onto bike lanes or turning right into the path of the cyclist, which is probably what happened here.

That another cyclist came along and had a go at the bus after witnessing what happened seems to me to support the conclusion.

(This happens to me several times a month- and I've developed a sort of "sixth sense" about who's likely to pull a bonehead play. If the driver's on a cell phone- its much better than even odds that they'll turn right in front of (or into me) without ever bothering to signal).

[wtmusic]

37. Heh. Sounds familiar.

I use a mirror (Take-a-Look, the only one that's worth buying)

http://www.amazon.com/Bike-Peddler-Original-Eyeglass-Rectangle/dp/B000C17M26/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=sporting-goods&qid=1219593250&sr=8-1

and adjust it so I can watch in front at the same time I'm watching overtaking traffic behind me. If there's a bus, garbage truck, etc coming up behind, and cars parked ahead I can adjust so the two don't "overlap". Not foolproof, but I feel much safer.

[kestrel91316]

44. Don't feel bad, our buses in LA also try to push cars off the road.

[Howzit]

24. A colleague of mine just changed the muffler on his motor cycle so that

cars can hear him coming because he says, drivers don't notice him.

Bicycles are smaller than motor bikes and even harder to see. I am surprised and annoyed by bicyclist that ride at night without lights or reflectors and wear dark clothing - do they have a death wish?

[pscot]

28. On the other hand

if they do notice you, they may try to deliberately run you down. Any psycho can get a drivers license.

[napoleon_in_rags]

26. I commute on bike, and this is sweet news.

It means our numbers are growing! This is good news long term. Cities need to become serious about lanes for bicycles and light electric vehicles, because there is going to be more not less in the future.

[meow mix]

29. it should be pointed out that bicycles are not "motor vehicles"

and therefore fall into a pedestrian catagory.

[bhikkhu]

31. Except that that doesn't work at all in practice

A ride in a city without bicycle provisions (which is most of them) is generally a mix of riding with car traffic, riding in bicycle lanes, and riding on sidewalks. All of these depend on the specific conditions of the route taken. I commute and do all three on most rides, choosing based on safety more than any other concern.

[wtmusic]

38. Bicycles, with some exceptions, use the same rules of the road

that cars do.

[depakid]

46. And DUI on a bike has the same legal effect as a DUI in a car

(or a boat, for that matter). An aquiantence of mine got one some years back for rafting on the Clackamas while drinking beer- cost him drivers license for 3 months!

[kestrel91316]

45. Nope. Here in California bikes are a vehicle with rights and responsibilities

identical to cars. I have the right to occupy the entire lane I am riding in without some car crowding me over to the side.

[wtmusic]

47. Bikes do have to stay over to the right side - usually

According to the CA driver handbook, bicycles "must ride in a straight line as near to the right curb or edge of the roadway as practical—not on the sidewalk."

However, this is not exactly the same as what the vehicle code says:

"Operation on Roadway

21202. (a) Any person operating a bicycle upon a roadway at a speed less than the normal speed of traffic moving in the same direction at that time shall ride as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway except under any of the following situations:

(1) When overtaking and passing another bicycle or vehicle proceeding in the same direction.

(2) When preparing for a left turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway.

(3) When reasonably necessary to avoid conditions (including, but not limited to, fixed or moving objects, vehicles, bicycles, pedestrians, animals, surface hazards, or substandard width lanes) that make it unsafe to continue along the right-hand curb or edge, subject to the provisions of Section 21656. For purposes of this section, a "substandard width lane" is a lane that is too narrow for a bicycle and a vehicle to travel safely side by side within the lane.

(4) When approaching a place where a right turn is authorized."

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d11/vc21202.htm

So it *is* OK to "take the lane" if you're keeping up with traffic. The discrepancy between the Driver Handbook and the actual code goes a long way to show why there is confusion on this rule.

PS come out and ride with us sometime!

http://www.sfvbc.com

[kestrel91316]

48. You guys are probably the ones I see on the road bikes in tight shorts

on Ventura Blvd on Sunday AM, lol. I'm the one on the pleasure cruiser.....

On Ventura the bikes can pretty much go as fast as the cars so that's why they can use the whole lane.

BTW, if you go too far to the right, the cars WILL hog the lane and try to push you all the way off the road. I generally am in the right half of the right lane, but I refuse to hug the curb and then have to dart in and out around the parked cars.

[NNadir]

35. What a coincidence: We had a bizarre bike accident here a few days ago.

A car, less than 3 kilometers from where I live, hit a deer, knocking the deer into two bicyclists.

One of the bicyclists is intensive care.

[phantom power]

40. The old car-deer-cyclist triple play.

Murphy's Law was working overtime that day.